


To Beautiful

by DameRuth



Series: Flowers [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-06
Updated: 2012-01-06
Packaged: 2017-10-29 01:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DameRuth/pseuds/DameRuth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unable to sleep, Tosh goes to the Hub and meets up with a fellow insomniac.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Canaan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canaan/gifts).



> Part of my AU [”Flowers”](http://www.whofic.com/series.phpseriesid=1079) series, with glancing references to past stories. Thanks to yamx for the beta!

At two a.m., Tosh decided she was tired of staring at her ceiling and rolled out of bed with a groan. She was deeply tired, but she knew she'd get no sleep tonight. There was too much filling her head; it wasn't any one thing, just the collective weight of all her cares, sorrows, fears and responsibilities pressing down on her until it was hard to breathe.

She pulled on some clean clothes and, for lack of any other destination, went to the Hub; she was analyzing an unidentified transmission – either that, or it was an odd, random burst of static that just happened to mimic language. She hoped not. But even if that was all it turned out to be, she still preferred doing something active (and possibly constructive) rather than sitting around her flat feeling dull and useless.

The Hub was dark and quiet, save for the small sounds and lights of equipment that was normally left running. No chance of running into Jack, with or without Ianto in attendance – both of them were off investigating a rash of UFO sightings up in Holyhead. Or so the story went; Tosh wouldn't blame them if they just wanted a holiday together.

She snapped on the desk lamp at her workstation, started her computer, and yawned. Of course, _now_ she was sleepy. Well, there was always the sofa if she felt like resting, but she knew from experience that falling asleep in this mood meant nightmares more often than not.

She elected to make tea instead.

As she was carrying a steaming mug back to her station, she realized she wasn't alone in the Hub. She shivered and her skin prickled all over. It wasn't a sound, or anything visible, just the overwhelming sense that someone else was near. Not Myfanwy; Tosh could see the pterodactyl hanging completely still in her favorite sleeping spot, like a giant bat.

Tosh kept walking, carefully and casually, to her workstation. She set down her tea and picked up her purse, reaching into it to wrap her fingers around the reassuring shape of her pistol. Looking around nervously, she checked the chamber and clicked the safety off. It made her feel better to be armed, but not as much so as she'd hoped.

Biting her lip, she decided to take the initiative.

“Who's there?” she called out. “Come out where I can see you!”

 _That could have sounded more decisive,_ she thought.

“Guns,” a tenor voice said behind her, the word dripping disgust. “I wish Jack wasn't so fond of them.”

Tosh whirled around and ended up aiming her pistol at a tall, familiar man in a pinstriped suit, standing with his hands in his pockets and wearing a thunderous frown.

“Doctor,” she gasped, quickly pointing her pistol up at the ceiling. “You scared me.” That was an understatement – it felt like her heart was trying to pummel its way out of her ribcage.

The Doctor continued to frown as Tosh reset the safety and carefully set her pistol on her desk. His disapproval made her want to squirm, but she resisted the impulse.

“You scared yourself, more like,” he said, but his frown faded. “You're working late. Or early, depending on how you look at it.”

“I couldn't sleep,” Tosh said, without thinking. She realized she'd never been alone with the Doctor before, and it felt very strange. Not bad, but strange.

The Doctor's expression softened. “Ah,” he said, with more warmth in his tone. “Me, neither. I thought I'd see what Jack was up to. Er. Because he doesn't sleep much, you know.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and Tosh couldn't help thinking he was a rubbish liar. The man had a time machine; he could have visited the Hub at any local time. Showing up in the middle of the night was definitely suspicious, more so since she knew (more or less) what his relationship to Jack was. It was all very open, very bohemian – very _Jack_. Ianto seemed fine with it, and Tosh supposed that was what mattered.

“He and Ianto are up north,” she said. “Investigating some UFO sightings. They won't be back till tomorrow at the soonest.”

“Ah,” the Doctor said again. “I suppose I should have called first. It's not something I think of, I don't usually plan that far ahead when I'm traveling . . . But! I know! Neither of us can sleep – how'd you like to take a short trip with me to pass the time? Insomniacs united and all that?” He smiled, managing to look like a hopeful, if very tall, puppy.

The abrupt offer stunned Tosh. “I, um, I don't know . . .”

“Oh, come on!” the Doctor wheedled, cranking up the charm until Tosh could almost feel it radiating from him, like heat or light. “Just one trip, I promise! Jack would never forgive me if I spirited you away permanently. We can be back five minutes after we leave. What do you say?” He beamed at her as if her answer was a foregone conclusion.

Tosh had read all the files UNIT thought were secret and classified, in addition to every scrap of information Torchwood possessed. She knew how dangerous this tall, thin man (who hadn't always been so tall, or thin, or youthful) could be. He could vanquish alien battle fleets practically single-handed; chaos and destruction followed in his wake like sonic booms after the Concorde. Still, her deepest instincts told her she was safer with him than she was anywhere else in the universe. It was very much the way she felt around Jack, who was also terribly dangerous and perfectly safe at the same time.

The Doctor's grin widened in response to her weakening resistance. She'd always been a terrible poker player, as Owen reminded her on a regular basis.

“We can go anywhere,” the Doctor said, rocking back and forth on his feet as he leaned forward. His voice was low and conspiratorial. “Anywhere at all, any time, any place. What would you like to see? Dinosaurs? The rings of Saturn? The Third Great and Bountiful Empire, a thousand years in the future? The Fields of Asgard? The effervescent oceans of Florana? It's all out there – you just have to say the word.” His eyes were gleaming as he spoke.

Tosh remembered seeing Earth from space: the southern lights ringing Antarctica like a ghostly crown and the fairy-dust of human habitation outlining the warmer continents. It had been heartbreakingly beautiful, but what had struck her even more was the _freedom_ she'd felt soaring high above all the things that wore at her and pressed her down in everyday life. It had made her feel so, so . . .

“Yes,” she said.

“Atta girl!” the Doctor crowed, straightening to his full height. Before she really knew what was happening, his cool, dry hand wrapped around hers, and she was being led to the Doctor's time machine – the TARDIS, she remembered. The Doctor's stride was long and springy, and she had to hurry to keep up with him.

The ship was parked, humming softly, in a corner Tosh had passed on her way into the Hub; she could have sworn it hadn't been there before, but she didn't have time to think about it. The Doctor unlocked the faded blue door and pulled Tosh into the huge, impossible control room with its twining coral struts and high, domed ceiling, lit softly in green and orange. Just looking at its alien grace was enough to take her out of herself; she could feel the tight constraints of her everyday life falling away like shattered chains. She was light as a feather, she could fly forever on the tiniest gust of air. It was an indescribable relief, oh, it was . . .

The Doctor dropped Tosh's hand and galloped up the ramp to the control panel. “So!” he called. “Where are we going? Have you decided?”

“Beautiful,” Tosh said, sighing.

“Sorry, what?”

Tosh shook herself and focused. “Somewhere beautiful,” she said firmly. “I don't care where or when, so long as it's beautiful.” She walked up the ramp to stand next to the Doctor, who was looking at her in surprise.

“Beautiful,” he said, rolling the word around his mouth. Then: “Beautiful. Beautiful! Beeeeee-yoo-ti-ful! Yes! Excellent choice. We can do beautiful, absolutely.” He grinned at Tosh in delight. “Hold tight, and . . .” he flipped a switch and the TARDIS leapt in response, “onwards, to beautiful!”

Tosh held on to the guard rail and grinned for all she was worth – because, regardless of their destination, whether the Doctor realized it or not, to she was _already_ somewhere beautiful.


End file.
